The Summoning
by xXxTDI AngelxXx
Summary: Based on the book 'The Summoning' by Kelley Armstrong. Courtney's life changed when she sees her first ghost and is submitted into a home for 'troubled teens' FULL SUMMARY INSIDE!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own the idea or any of the characters.

Summary: All Courtney Mathews wants is to be a normal teenager-make friends, meet boys, and keep on being ordinary. But her life changed when she saw her first ghost....and it saw her. Now she is being admitted into a home for troubled teens. But she, and her house mates, will soon realize the home isn't what it seems. Now its up to Courtney to figure out the dangerous secrets behind the home before it's skeletons...come back to haunt her.

The Summoning

Prologue

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Courtney stood on the top step looking down the flight of stares. She was shaking and hugging onto her teddy bear. She hated the basement. She would see scary people down there, so her parents never made her go down there. But her parents weren't home right now. She was being baby-sat by this teenaged girl who lived down the street. "Come on Courtney, don't be such a baby. It's just a cellar. All I need you to do is go down and grab a coke. Be a big girl!" Courtney shut her eyes tightly. Her three year old legs trembling as she took the first step down the stairs. She used to like coming down here. There would be nice people who would play games with her and tell her she was a good girl. But then those people disappeared. Now there was only the man behind the cellar who dangled from a rope tied around his neck. His face was blue and swollen and he never talked. Then there was Mr. Fredericks. Courtney hated Mr. Fredericks. He would always sneak up behind her and scare her. Courtney gripped the wooden railing with one hand before taking another step.

"Courtney! Hurry it up!" Ashley yelled from the living room. "If you don't, I will lock you in there." Courtney ran down the stairs as fast as she could. Her feet got tangled and she fell onto the cold, concrete floor. She slowly lifted her head and looked around the room. She heard a slight noise and jerked her head to the right, but soon realized it was only the hanging man.

She stood to her feet and glanced frantically around the room. Her breath was shallow and sweat lined her forehead. She walked into the darkness for a while, her only light coming from the small window, until she bumped into a shelf. Her hand searched the shelf until it came across a can. She picked up the can and was about ready to turn around when she heard a creak.

"Welcome back, Courtney."

She turned around to see a silhouette of a man standing in the dark. He stepped out into a beam of light. He was a tall, slim man with a gray suit on. He had an old fashion, bowling ball hat on that matched his suit. He would have looked like a regular man, if he had flesh that is. His whole face was a skeleton, with bits of raw flesh in some places. His eye sockets were completely empty and dark. Courtney gasped and dropped her teddy bear. Tears whelled up in her eyes as she looked as Mr. Fredericks.

He looked at her and grinned an evil grin. Then he spoke. His voice dripping in evil. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard to Courtney. His voice was enough to send her into histarics, with just one question.

"Come to play?"

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Well, theres the prologue. Like it? No? Any form of criticism is welcome. Should I continue? If yes I will probably update tonight! This was a spur of the moment idea by the way.

Sarah~xTAx


	2. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, the book, or the idea.

The Summoning

Chapter One

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I woke up in a cold sweat. I sat up in my bed abruptly. I looked around and felt a wave of relief when I realized I was in my room. I gripped my pendant in my hand and slowed my breathing. What was that dream? I have had never had a dream like that before. The little girl looked like me, but I never remember there being people in the basement. Heck, I don't even remember having a basement. I thought we always lived in an apartment. I swung my feet around the side of the bed and stood up. I walked over to my mirror and looked at my appearance. My cheeks were red and my brunette hair was damp with sweat. I quickly took a shower and got ready for school.

I wore a pair of skinny jeans and tennis shoes. I had a black tank-top and my favorite army-green jacket on. I straightened my shoulder length, brown hair and looked in the mirror once more. My red pendent dangled against my chest. I have had that pendent ever since I was three. My mom gave it to me. She said it would always protect me. Sure, now it sounds childish, but back then I hung on every word my mother said. And it was true, nothing bad had happened to me while wearing the pendent. Well, except for loosing my mom. She died when I was around seven. My dad is gone away on business a lot. I think he might be is Switzerland right now. Now, I am in the care of my Aunt Carrie. I love my aunt, never had a reason not to.

I skipped breakfast that morning. My stomach just wasn't up for it. So I went ahead and began my walk to Millard K. Prep School. It was a school for over achievers, such as myself. I was going to run for school president, but my Aunt said I better not. You never know when we have to pack up and move again. My thoughts were interrupted when I noticed a little girl standing on the curb. She had long, blond curls and a silky white, old time dress. She noticed me and grinned angelically at me. She then turned towards the road again and stepped off the curb. It was too late when I realized a truck was coming. "No!" I screamed running towards the girl. The truck drove by the road where the little girl should have been standing at. But no one was there. No sign or trace of the little girl. I sat there in disbelief. I could have sworn I saw a little girl standing there! I shook it off and walked towards my school, extra paranoid now.

I reached the school. I walked in the building and to my locker, where I saw my best friends Kiari and Seth. Kiari noticed me first and waved at me. She had shoulder length auburn hair and wore a mini-skirt and a 'Hard Rock Cafe' shirt. Seth wore a simple jeans and t-shirt. He had short black hair and glasses. "Hey guys whats up?" I greeted.

"Last minute studying for Algebra exam." Seth said, his head buried in his Algebra book.

"Come on you know you will do fine." Kiari said. She turned her attention back towards Courtney. "You will never guess who just asked me out!"

"Seth!"

Both rolled their eyes. "No. Josh Lawrence. Captain of the foot ball team. Guy I have been crushing on since second grade ring a bell?"

"Oh, hey congratulations."

"I know right?" she squealed. I love Kiari, but the squealing gets a little annoying. And to be honest, I wasn't surprised Kiari had a new boyfriend. She always got them. I haven't had a boyfriend ever. We never stayed in one place to long for me to ever make a connection with a guy. The bell for homeroom rang and everyone in the hallway scattered to different rooms. I followed suit.

Me and Seth sat at lunch, watching Kiari interact with her new boyfriend. Every now and then he would yell comments like 'get a room' or 'break it up would you?'. I didn't eat anything. My stomach was killing me. I got up from the table without saying anything. I dumped my tray and went to the girls bathroom. Surprisingly, the bathrooms were much cleaner and more sanitized than at other schools I had attended. I locked myself in the stall and sat in the floor. I could not stop thinking about my dream, or the girl on the curb. It didn't make sense. She should have been ran over. There should have been a body there. The driver should have saw her.....

The bell for the next class rang, but I sat there. I wasn't in the mood for Geography anyways. I sat in the bathroom for a good half an hour before I decided I was going to head to class. It would be over in ten minutes anyways. I walked out onto the empty hallway.

"Hey you!" I heard a deep voice call. I turned to see a janitor.

"Oh, I was just using the bathroom. I'm on my way to class right now." I said walking away.

"Hey! I'm not done talking to you!" he screamed. How had his barking not attracted any attention? I kept walking. I glanced back and saw him coming towards me. I walked faster. I glanced back again and he was gone. I sighed and turned the corner, only to almost collide with a custodian uniform. I looked up and saw the janitor, his skin was melted and flesh was hanging off of his bones. I screamed and did a 180 and ran as fast as I could.

"Get back here! I'm not done talking to you!" the janitor screamed. I headed downstairs and ran down the hall way. A few of the classroom doors were open so of course some teachers came out to see what the fuss was about. I ran into the gym, since no one was in there. I locked the main door and walked backwards to the middle of the gymnasium. I saw the janitor's face through the window and held back a shriek. He walked into the room. THROUGH A CLOSED DOOR!!!! I started going into histarics. Screaming, cussing, running, anything I could. He caught up to me though and tackled me to the ground. He was on top of me, our faces just inches from each other. I could smell rotting flesh radiating off of him. I held back the bile coming up in my throat.

"All I wanted, was a minute of your time." he growled. I began kicking and screaming like a wild woman. I heard the door open. _Thank god, someone came to save me!_ I thought. But instead two large men came and restrained both of my arms. The janitor disappeared off of me. I looked around confusedly. Then I saw my principal, Mrs. Willis walking up to me. She had a long needle in her hand.

"Sorry Courtney." She said before sticking the needle in my neck. I instantly felt dizzy and light headed. I looked to my right to see the custodian looking over me. He shook his head in what looked like disappointment. Then he slowly faded into nothing. That was the last thing I saw before I blacked out.

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So how is it? Sorry for the chapters being shorter than I'm used to. But where I am writing this based on a book, and her chapters are short, theres really no other way to do it. Please read and review!!!

Sarah~xTAx


	3. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, the book, or the idea.

The Summoning

Chapter Two

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I opened my eyes slowly, only to shut them right back. The light pouring in from the window was blinding. My head was throbbing and I felt nauseous. I slowly peeled my eyes open again. I looked around the room. I apparently was submitted into a hospital. The room was very stuffy and cold. I tried to sit up but soon realized that was a very bad idea. I felt a source of heat radiating from my right side. I look over to see my Aunt Carrie in a chair next to me. She was holding my hand and was half laying on the bed asleep.

What had happened? Suddenly the memories came flooding back. The dream. The little girl in the road. My stomach hurting. The custodian...

How come I was the only person who could see him? Was he invisible? Was he a ghost? No! _Ghost aren't real, Courtney, stop living in a fantasy world, _I thought to herself. The memories sent a cold chill down my spine, which resulted in my aunt waking up. Her eyes were red and puffy and had dark circles underneath them. Wet spots on her cheeks indicated that she was crying at one point.

She quickly got up and hugged me tight. "Oh thank god Courtney. Your awake."

"Carrie what happened?" my voice was croaked and dry. She sat up and reached me a glass of water, which I quickly chugged. She looked at me somberly.

"Sweety." she said grabbing my hand once more. "The doctors...think it would be best if you went...away for a while."

"Away where?" I asked suspiciously.

"To a group home. It's not that bad. It's just an hour away. I've looked it up on the Internet and it seems like a really nice facility."

"Wait a minute. A group home? Like for crazy people?!?" A million thoughts ran through my head at once. I wasn't crazy. I was a perfectly normal sixteen year old.

"Not crazy people, darling. Just people with certain... conditions."

"I don't have a condition! I am perfectly fine!" I was shouting now.

"Lower your voice, dear."

"I'm not going to that home." I replied stubbornly.

"Well, you sorta don't have a choice. You see, that college you want to get into, your record has to be spotless to get in right?"

"My record _is_ spotless."

"Well, if you don't enter the home, it won't be. See, at the time of the... incident, you sorta hit one of your teacher. And if you don't go through with this program, it will go in your permanent record."

My face dropped. My mouth dropped open. I was about to lash out when an unsuspecting figure walked in. I blinked a few times to make sure I was seeing correctly. "Dad?"

"Hey Courtney." He took a seat on the side of my bed. I didn't know what to think. I hadn't seen my dad in months. Wasn't he supposed to be over seas? "How are you feeling?" he asked putting an awkward hand over mine. Me and my dad were never close. I wasn't even sure if he ever wanted kids. He sure didn't know how to act around them. But he was here now, and thats all that matters.

"Like crap, to be honest."

"Everything will be alright." he soothed. My aunt glared at him from the other side of the bed. She stopped liking my dad after mom died. He had taken her out to a movie that night and they stopped at a gas station on the way back. She went to use the bathroom and apparently some creep was hiding out back there. She was murdered that night. She still blames dad for the incident.

I looked over at my dad with hopeful eyes. "Dad, do I really have to go into that home?"

He looked down to avoid my gaze. Oh crap. Whenever someone avoids looking you in the eyes, it means they are going to tell you something you didn't want to hear. And I had a feeling I knew exactly what he was going to say. "I'm afraid so sweetheart."

A lump got caught in my throat and I looked down at my white bed sheets. I don't belong in a group home. This whole thing is just one big, stupid misunderstanding. "When?" I said in a low voice.

"Tomorrow. Actually, in about five hours." I gulped. This soon? That wasn't enough time to prepare myself physically or mentally. I would have to get my clothes, say good-bye to my friends, get all my assignments....

"Don't worry, I already have all your stuff packed." Aunt Carrie chipped in. Oh crap, that meant that I wasn't going to get to leave the hospital. I wasn't going to get to go home. As soon as I left here, I would be at that stupid group home, away from everything I knew and loved.

I threw my head against the pillow. Ignoring the massive headache it caused, I sighed and looked to my Aunt. "I'm really going to have to do this aren't I?"

"I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice, dear."

I sighed heavily. "Well, at least let me get to sleep before I begin my torture session." I rolled over and closed my eyes. I felt my dad's hand pat my shoulder.

"Goodnight Courtney." he whispered. Then I head light footsteps leave the room. I knew Aunt Carrie was still there. She would never leave me. She was the only person in the world I fully trusted. I felt her long hand stroke my hair as I drifted back off into sleep.

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I know, I know, kinda boring, right? I wouldn't be surprised if you all decided to shun me for my awful writing. Anyways, review! Doesn't have to be good or bad, just review.

Sarah~xTAx


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